HERD IN NEED OF HEROES
BALI: A herd of endangered Sumatran elephants in Bali is on death row as the pandemic sends their Aussie rescuers to the wall.
Victorian Nigel Mason, who owns the Mason Elephant Park and Lodge in Bali, launched a Gofundme page to raise money to feed his herd of 30 elephants – which costs $30,000 a month to look after.
“We’ve spent about $1.2m looking after the elephants since the pandemic started. The elephants are funded by guests who come to the park – so without people, the money has dried up,” he said.
Bali is closed to international tourism and Mr Mason (pictured, right) has been given no support from the Indonesian government.
”We’ve gone through our savings and sold our fleet of transport buses to finance the herd. We’ve just run out of money. We have been forced into it, and we are struggling to keep the elephants alive,” he said.
However, Mr Mason said that if “worse came to worse” he would try to release the e animals from the park ark near Ubud rather than euthanase them.
“We have had to reduce their food a little bit and spread what we have out amongst entire herd 30,” Mason said.
“We have already seen the negative effects this has on their health. The foundation has raised about $30,000, which is enough to care for the herd for one month.”
The award-winning park was founded in 1997 when Mr Mason and his wife Yanie rescued 34 abused elephants from illegal logging camps in Sumatra in a daring sweep. The couple transported the sick and scared animals to Bali on boats bo and trucks. The exploited exp pachyderms pa had h a life expectancy of just five years. Since the park opened, the herd has thrived, and six have been natural selection. Mr Mason has continued to expand the park, which is a popular place for Aussies.
To help, visit gofundme.com/f/save-30endangered-elephants-in-bali